Awala-Yalimapo

Awala-Yalimapo is a Kalina village at the mouth of the Maroni whose beach at Les Hattes is one of the most important leatherback nesting sites in the world, with thousands of turtles hauling out between April and July. They come at night and the tracks in the morning are as wide as a car. The commune is administered by the Kalina themselves and the amerindian year is marked in the village. Behind the beach the Amana reserve protects mangrove, savanna and the river mouth. The Amana reserve was created in 1998 and covers close to fifteen thousand hectares of coast and savanna.